


After

by atlantisairlock



Category: Gravity (2013)
Genre: Afterlife, F/M, Families of Choice, Gen, Happy Ending, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-14
Updated: 2013-10-14
Packaged: 2017-12-29 09:39:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1003847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/atlantisairlock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After, in the place souls go when they leave this earth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After

_"Her name is Sarah…"_

_"Give her a hug and kiss from me…"_

_"Tell her I’m so proud of her…"_

 

 

Matt’s eyes snap open.

The first thing he realises is that he’s not in his spacesuit anymore.

The next thing he realises is that he’s still floating. The darkness reminds him of space, but it doesn’t have stars, doesn’t have anything - it’s just endless blackness all around him. Nothingness. When he opens his mouth to speak, he hears nothing. He feels like one speck in a never-ending universe.

It’s a moment where he feels complete, utter desolation. The place is devoid of everything - sound, light, hope…

And then he sees it. One tiny pinprick of light in the distance that reminds him of the Soyuz, reminds him of Tiangong. It’s amazing how something so tiny could give him so much hope, but it does. Matt begins manoeuvring himself towards the brightness, and confidence surges within him as it gets bigger, as he gets closer - 

He feels the sensation of falling, feels the light get so strong he has to block it out with an arm across his eyes. Then he tumbles onto the ground, real ground, and feels wet grass and muddy soil under his palms and he can feel the warmth of the sun against his back.

For a moment Matt can’t understand. Is he back on Earth? How could he get back without burning up in re-entry, without his spacesuit? Where is the spacesuit? How did he make it back without the oxygen, the harsh conditions of space?

"Hello!" A high voice from in front of him, and Matt looks up from the grass and sees two tiny feet, an innocent smile, a girl.

"Is your name Sarah?" The words fall from his lips without him thinking about them.

Her smile gets wider. “Yes! I’m Sarah.” She reaches out a little hand to him, and he gently closes his fingers around it, getting up from the ground. Matt’s mind whirls, and he sees the resemblance - Ryan’s eyes, Ryan’s smile; this is her daughter.

"I’m dead," Matt whispers, realisation finally dawning on him. "I see." Of course, that’s the only explanation after he cut the tether.

"You’re in Heaven," Sarah says matter-of-factly while puffing at a dandelion. "It’s a pretty place." She stops and looks up at him with those eyes, those _eyes_. "Are you my daddy?"

Matt thinks of Ryan, thinks of the Mardi Gras story he never got to finish, thinks of the moment where he let the tether loose, thinks of the sunrise over the Ganges. He looks down at Sarah, waiting for an answer, then scoops her up into her arms and gives her a hug.

"No," he replies quietly. "But I could be, if you want me to."

And she smiles, all the response he needs. 

 

 

They meet once, in the realm of dreams where time and space and life and death transcend.

They smile at each other, and Matt stays far away from her because he knows he can’t get close, can’t get past the invisible barrier that he’s learned will be there.

She asks about Sarah, and he tells her all that’s happened. She promises she’ll join them, and he makes her promise that she’ll wait till it’s her time. With the sun rising over Illinois he knows he has one thing left to say.

"Ryan Stone -"

Ryan fades back into reality and he hears the distant screech of an alarm clock going off, and Matt exhales, then begins to turn back to return to Sarah.

 

 

Five years after the ordeal is over Ryan steps onto a crosswalk and a drunk driver turns the blind corner and sends her flying.

When she lands on hard, unforgiving tarmac, it’s a whirl of pain and confusion and the world is so loud, too loud. She begins to hyperventilate, and memories flash through her mind, in front of her eyes- the world bleeds its colour, and she hears screams and someone’s calling for an ambulance and she struggles to force air into her lungs but it’s not working. Ryan sees the sickening crimson blood begin to pool around her, and she flails, struggles -

Above, Sarah and Matt watch.

"Is it Mom’s time?" Sarah turns to Matt with a frown on her face.

Matt nods, and he turns to the girl he can’t think of as anything besides his daughter. “I’m going to go get her.”

In the haze of chaos and the blinding agony and paralysis Ryan feels she senses something in the distance. An aura of peace, of finality, of warmth, welcoming. Home.

"Is this… how it ends," She manages to rasp out to the silhouette she sees in the distance, the shadow she already implicitly trusts, even though every word feels like she’s being run through with a stake. "After… all that… out in space. Is this… how I…" The world begins to fade around the edges, and her breathing begins to slow.

Matt kneels by her side, looks down at her, and gently brushes one hand against her eyelids, and they close.

In the real world, Ryan Stone’s eyes flutter shut, her breathing stops, and she’s gone. One woman beside her starts CPR, a teenager’s by her side telling her to just hang on, the ambulance is on its way, but she’s past rescue.

 

 

Ryan wakes up in the same blackness, same nothingness, reminiscent of five years back when Matt breathed his last gasp of air. But this time the light shines brighter for her, and she hears the echoes of voices calling her home.

When Ryan lands, Matt and Sarah are waiting for her.

It’s a tearful reunion between mother and daughter, Ryan clinging on to her like she’ll never see Sarah again. Matt watches, smile on his face, and waits. When Sarah goes to play in the paradise they’re in, Ryan stands up, goes over to Matt.

"Hey," he says, simple as that, and he wants to say so much else but it can wait.

"Matt Kowalski." She looks at him with a glint in her eyes. "Four years ago when I saw you in my sleep… what were you going to say to me?"

Matt stares at her, unable to believe what she’s saying. “You remember.”

"I remember," Ryan agrees, gazing at him with an unreadable expression in her eyes. "Well?"

"That I… care about you," Matt answers. "A lot."

"Daddy means he’s in love with you," Sarah chirps, gazing up at both of them with wide eyes, and Matt has the grace to blush.

"Ryan Stone, I know I’m going to need a lot of time to win your heart… but at least I have that at my disposal." He grins, trying to salvage the situation.

She smiles, a real smile that lights up her face. “You already have.” She pulls him close and kisses him, making his heart skip a beat. “We have all the time in the world.”


End file.
